Pena breaks tie, extends hitting streak to 11

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Jerry Narron had no idea when the Reds last
won two road games in a row.

"I'm trying to think when it was, going back to last season, I
guess," Cincinnati's manager said, almost in disbelief.

Last Sept. 29-30, to be exact -- a pair of one-run wins, both in
12 innings, over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The Reds finally did it again.

Wily Mo Pena hit a tiebreaking single in the sixth and drove in
two runs, and Ken Griffey Jr. hit a ninth-inning double for career
RBI No. 1,499, leading Cincinnati to a 7-4 victory over the San
Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.

Griffey moved within 10 RBI of tying Mickey Mantle for 42nd on
the career list and took part in another impressive game for the
Reds, who won the opener of the four-game series 11-10 on Monday.

Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer, Sean Casey had four hits, and
Eric Milton pitched 6 1/3 strong innings to earn his first win away
from Great American Ball Park this season.

"It's good," Casey said of establishing a road winning streak
for the first time this season. "It's been a while. For us to get
back-to-back wins is a step in the right direction. We're getting
hits when we need them. That's crucial for us."

Pena extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games with a
second-inning RBI single. Dunn followed with his 22nd homer of the
season into the right-field arcade.

Pena also singled in the fourth, before lining a base hit to
center in the sixth to break a 3-all tie. Center fielder Jason
Ellison made a great throw home, but the ball skipped off the front
of the mound and catcher Mike Matheny trapped it but couldn't
gather it in, allowing Griffey to score the go-ahead run.

Rookie Lance Niekro hit a two-run homer in the first for his
10th of the season, but that was the only big hit in San
Francisco's fourth straight loss following a four-game winning
streak.

Milton (4-9), making his team-leading 18th start and first
appearance at SBC Park, came in 0-5 in seven road starts, but
quickly bounced back after Niekro's homer -- the major-league
leading 28th surrendered by Milton this season. Alex Sanchez hit a
two-out single for San Francisco in the second, then Milton retired
the next 12 batters he faced before Pedro Feliz walked in the
sixth.

"You've got to put the runs out of your mind," Milton said.
"I was in a pretty good groove and that got the team going."

The lefty hadn't won since May 23 against Washington, a span of
seven starts -- going 0-4 with three no-decisions during the
stretch. This was his longest outing since that win, too.

He allowed three runs and six hits, struck out three and walked
one. Milton noticed watching tape that he needed to get his legs
more involved in his delivery, which has helped increase his
velocity recently.

"He wants to pitch well," Narron said. "He wants to show
everybody he can pitch well."

Noah Lowry (5-8) didn't fare as well in his second career
meeting with the Reds. The left-hander, in his first full major
league campaign, pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout to beat
Cincinnati for his first major league win last Aug. 3.

"Any time you throw a shutout, that's hard to match," Lowry
said. "They had a couple hits that just fell into places. That's
the way baseball goes sometimes. ... We scored early and I didn't
come out and hold them."

Lowry's pitch count got high in a hurry this time. He threw 119
pitches in six innings, allowed four runs on eight hits, struck out
seven and walked two.

Cincinnati's Jason LaRue went 0-for-3 with a walk, one day after
getting a career-high six RBI. Narron planned to start Javier
Valentin in place of LaRue at catcher Wednesday.

Game notes

Giants 2B Ray Durham came in as a defensive replacement in
the seventh for his 1,500th game. ... Cincinnati and San Francisco
play eight times this season, the most meetings for the clubs since
2000. ... Giants RHP Brett Tomko, taken out of the rotation for one
turn last week, will pitch Thursday. But the Giants are weighing
what to do with struggling LHP Kirk Rueter (2-7), whose winless
stretch reached nine starts in Monday's 11-10 loss. Manager Felipe
Alou said the team had discussed "generalities about pitching,"
but had yet to address Rueter's situation in particular. ... Reds
INF Anderson Machado (rebuilt left knee) will be activated from the
disabled list Wednesday. Narron said he will use Machado at 2B, OF
and some at SS, but that All-Star Felipe Lopez would remain the
primary SS. ... Injured Giants closer Armando Benitez, recovering
from surgery to repair two torn hamstring tendons, threw on the
field and is hopeful he'll be pitching from a mound soon.